“What about the Russian stuff? I do remember that it was cheaper.”
Most 7.62x39 is Russian. I was at a gun show a month ago and Russian stuff was available, $400 a thousand round box. I couple weeks later I was able to buy a thousand rounds of same ammo from a reputable online dealer for $260.
Russian?
Or
PRVI Partizan ammo or brass (Serb, have read that it is pretty good stuff and competitive)